


Fallen Angel

by Demixian



Series: Angel Au Series [2]
Category: The Book of Mormon - Parker/Stone/Lopez
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluffy Ending, M/M, angel au, gay birbs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-06
Updated: 2015-11-06
Packaged: 2018-04-30 08:03:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5156330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demixian/pseuds/Demixian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kevin Price never asked for any of this. He just wants out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fallen Angel

The hustle and bustle of a busy Ugandan market creates an unusually relaxing ambience, Elder Price observes. He makes polite small talk with one of the stall keepers, primarily in Ugandan but whenever he can't find the right word, he simply says it in English, and the stall keeper understands him. It's rather handy that so many of the Ugandans here can speak English, although Elder Price always makes an effort to speak to them in Ugandan, simply to show off how much he knows.

Nabuluungi and Elder Cunningham are not too far away, inspecting a large watermelon for any signs of inadequacy. They fumble with it and it almost smashes on the floor, but Elder Cunningham clumsily dives down like a goalie before catching it. Nabuluungi giggles, helping the stout elder up and dusting him off.

 _They're so adorable_ , Elder Price thinks, smiling slightly. They really are, too. They remind Elder Price of two young children who don't quite understand that kissing on the cheek is seen as romantic yet, or that excessive hugging is very much a sign of attraction (because, obviously they're little kids). The two clumsy butterfingers pay for the watermelon, probably mostly because they almost smashed it thus rendering it unusable, and move up to the onion stall next to Elder Price.

"Hey buddy, bought anything yet or are you just flirting with the stall keeper?'" Elder Cunningham teases, gesturing to the woman whom Elder Price had been idly chatting to. She clearly understands what the shorter elder said and she winks playfully, letting out a small chuckle. Elder Price smirks, nodding at her and flashing the same winning smile he always does before looking back at Elder Cunningham and Nabuluungi.

"Nope, I'm just waiting for you guys. I didn't bring enough money out, it seems," he replies, raising an eyebrow at the stall keeper. She snorts and says something in Ugandan which Elder Price translates roughly as

"I will not lower the price, despite all your smiling."

"Aw, too bad buddy. Hey, me and Naba got this melon, though! We can each have a slice when we get home!" Elder Cunningham says enthusiastically, raising the watermelon up to show his friend. Elder Price nods, acknowledging its size. He is about to ask what they would do to avoid getting melon on their shirts when something distracts him. Nabuluungi makes an odd sound and he looks up, catching the eye of a large, burly, dark-skinned man.

If he didn't have both eyes in tact, Elder Price might have thought he was General Butt-Effing-Naked (which was NOT the General's actual name, but most of the elders had yet to lose their habit of censoring their language).

The man has a malicious smile on his face and Nabuluungi is squirming for some reason. It suddenly dawns on both Elder Price and Elder Cunningham what precisely is going on and Elder Cunningham immediately jumps to the rescue.

"Hey! Get your hands off her!" he snaps, grabbing the man's arm and attempting to pull it away from its current position. This is precisely the wrong decision as the man immediately shoves Elder Cunningham away, causing him to crash into the onion stall. The stall keeper seems appalled, not at his now diminishing supply of onions but at the scene that is happening before him.

Elder Price sees his opportunity to protect Nabuluungi and he pounces upon the other man, using all the strength he can muster to push him off. He is successful, and Nabuluungi quickly darts away into the protecting arms of the female stall keeper that Elder Price had been joking with only moments ago. None of the stall keepers in the market are moving yet, all are frozen with shock, and probably all thinking the same thing: _That skinny white boy is really fucking stupid_.

The larger, now irate man yanks Elder Price off of him, pushing him backwards. Miraculously, Elder Price just manages to stay on his feet, stumbling back.

"You want to fight, my friend?" the man says in crystal clear English, striking fear into Elder Price much deeper than he would have in his own tongue.

"I do not want to fight you," Elder Price says calmly in faulty Ugandan, surprising the other man slightly. He smirks at this, knowing that the use of the other man's language must have had the same effect on him as it did Elder Price.

"Well, that is too bad, then," the man replies, again in English.

 

"Oh well," Elder Price says, balling his right hand into a fist. He pulls back, ready to punch the man, but he takes out a gun. Elder Price slowly lowers his fist, staring in shock and terror at the weapon.

"Uh oh, um, I don't think that'll be--" he begins, his voice incredibly brittle and shaky. He's seen a gun before, of course, living in Uganda, you can't go outside without seeing one somewhere, but he's never had one pointed straight at his head…

**_BANG!_ **

 

***

 

Nothing but white. A blueish whiteness that consumes his vision, a very familiar blueish white that he had not hastened to forget. Kevin's eyes flutter open and it takes him only a moment to realize where he is. He can't remember anything, only that he's been gone from this place for far too long.

He slowly sits up, taking in his surroundings (which doesn't take too long as it's pretty much all just the faint blue-white expanse). The cloud underneath him that his currently supporting his body is so soft and comfortable, but he can't sit on it for too long. He knows, for a fact, somebody else is here. Somebody whom he has greatly missed.

Kevin unfolds his wings and stands up, his pure white robes feeling slightly heavier than normal. He reaches up to rub his eyes, and begins to feel the particular part of his head that had been aching with pain a few moments before he had woken up in this world. The spot is completely clean, untouched, unharmed. In fact, as he feels the rest of his face, he found no blemishes or wounds, only soft skin that he is surprised belongs to him. He runs his fingers through his hair, which is beautifully silky and allows his fingers to glide right through it with ease, not snagging on a single knot or tangle once.

Kevin slowly edges to the end of the cloud, searching the area for a sign of other life. Sure enough, his predictions are correct, and a few feet away another cloud is floating on the same level as his with another winged man sleeping on it. Kevin decides to surprise him and he begins beating his wings as quietly as he can, flying over to the other cloud and hovering just below it. He swiftly whacks the bottom of the cloud, sending the man sleeping on it shooting into the air and tumbling off of it. Kevin quickly dives and catches him, careful not to injure his wings. The other man looks rather flustered and annoyed, frowning.

"K-Kevin?" he exclaims, looking surprised at first but quickly frowning again. "Why'd you do that?"

"It was funny," Kevin explains simply, laying his friend, Connor on the cloud again, laughing.

"Well, don't do it again," he says grumpily, still frowning. He can't hold the scowl for much longer though, allowing a large smile to spread across his face. Kevin lands next to him on the cloud, pressing his nose against Connor's. Connor replies by nuzzling him appreciatively. "You're back!"

"Yeah," Kevin replies, chirping happily. He and Connor embrace, wrapping their large, white-feathered wings around one another. The coolness of the air disappears and is replaced by a blissful warmth that only Kevin could bring to his friend.

"Mmm," Connor mumbles, smiling. "Warm."

"Uhuh," Kevin agrees, not releasing from the embrace just yet. "I missed you, Connor."

"I missed you too, Kevin," Connor replies, pulling away at last. "Why'd you leave?"

"I didn't want to…it just happened," Kevin admits, gently brushing a tendril of hair out of Connor's eye. "But I'm back now!"

"You are!" Connor chirps, grinning. "I wanna show you something, come on!"

"Oh, uh, okay…" Kevin says, surprised. Connor grabs his hand, pulling him up into their air with him. They begin flying, Connor leading his friend behind him excitedly. "What do you wanna show me?"

"Just you wait…" Connor says, still hauling Kevin along behind him like a pull-along toy. The white abyss around them doesn't change, but the two clouds they are leaving behind slowly become smaller and smaller, fading into a mysterious blueish-white mist.

With nothing else to see, Kevin faces forwards again, and sees a bright golden light a few feet away, emitting from a large mass of cloud, as large as a football field. The small opening that is emitting the light grows closer and closer as they fly nearer and nearer.

This area is very different to the place that they'd been previously, as there are many, many more clouds all over the place. The two angels perch on a small cloud directly beneath the ray of light, allowing it to illuminate them both. Kevin tries to gaze at the light but quickly looks away as it blinds him momentarily, it's intensity too great.

"Isn't it amazing?" Connor sighs, looking over at Kevin's now brightly lit face. Kevin weakly looks over at Connor as well, admiring his bright red hairs sparkling in the golden light.

"It's…it's really beautiful, yes," he agrees, not daring to stare at it again. "How'd you find it?"

"I was lonely without you, so I tried to find more things like us…I just found this. The clouds are just as soft, but bigger. And the light is so warm, it's like constantly sleeping with your wings around me," Connor swoons, his wings fluttering involuntarily. He sits down on the cloud, rubbing its warm, silky surface. Kevin does the same, sighing at the touch.

Maybe it's just the added heat from the light, but the cloud is somehow softer than the others, more tender. Kevin extends a wing and wraps it around Connor's shoulder, pulling him in closer. They both snuggle up next to each other, chirping serenely. The shimmering light continues to drench them in its golden glory, and they both grow very tired with the comfiness of the cloud and the warmth of the light combined.

They wrap themselves in a feathery cocoon, cuddling up even closer. Kevin's lips connect with Connor's for a beautiful, fleeting moment before they close their eyes, nuzzling into one another and allowing the sound of each other's breath to carry them to sleep.

 

***

 

"He's still breathing, right?"

"Yes, Elder, he is alive. I already confirmed that."

"Oh, but what if he just…you know…blinks out…"

"Elder Price will not die so suddenly, he has been here a full two days with no problem."

"Gotswana, will the wound heal up well?"

"I think so, but don't touch it. The skin is very tender."

"Oh, okay." Elder Price doesn't dare open his eyes. He doesn't think he has the strength to. Everything hurts, but the pain in his temple is the worst. The voices are distant yet also clear. One is a gruff, African voice, another is a nasal whine and the last is a soft feminine whisper. Elder Price moans in pain, the stabbing sensation in his temple forcing several consecutive 'ow's to escape from his lips.

"Elder Price!" the adenoidal male voice shrieks joyfully, forcing Elder Price to wince.

"Shhh, quiet, Elder Cunningham. You are causing him pain," the gruff voice hushes him.

"Come on, buddy," Elder Cunningham says, quieter now. "Wake up…"

"Ow!" Elder Price exclaims as two chubby fingers force his eyes open. A darker hand slaps the pale one away, followed by a grunt of disapproval.

"Elder Price, we are so glad that you are alive," the beautiful young woman standing beside Elder Cunningham says, smiling softly. Elder Price immediately recognizes her as Nabuluungi, and as he looks around he also recognizes the doctor, Gotswana and his best friend, Elder Cunningham. He can't see another certain friend, the friend he needs to see the most. Light that is far from golden seeps out of the gaps in wooden blinds, creating a rectangular pattern on the soft wood floor.

"Hmm? Oh…yeah…wasn't I…got shot…the market?" Elder Price mumbles, the memories all there but rather blurry.

"It's okay. After he pulled out his gun, somebody alerted the police nearby, and they took him down soon after you were shot," Gotswana calmly replies, putting a rather bloody hand on Price's shoulder. The awful pain in his temple will not go away, no matter how much he tries to ignore it.

"Doc…can't you give me some anesthetic or something?" he asks, his voice weak and pleading.

"Um, we do not have any anesthetic here," Gotswana replies, looking a bit apologetic. "We have only bandages and herbs. Oh, and tweezers. Those are what I used to get the bullet out."

"Why am I not dead?" Elder Price whines, almost angrily. "Why didn't that gunshot kill me?"

"It went through the side of your head, just here. You will suffer little to no brain damage, but you might get a weird scar where I plan to stitch you up. You passed out from all the blood loss but luckily somebody had been selling scarves and they wrapped your head in one, just tight enough to stop the flow," Gotswana babbles, surprisingly more skilled at his job than Elder Price had thought. Maybe there _was_  a reason that he was a doctor, other than the town just needed one. "That is all I know."

"Oh, well that's good," Elder Price lies, forcing an appreciative smile. _Why couldn't that son of a bitch have aimed properly and just shot me in between the eyes? If any racist with a gun in Texas can do it, why can't he?_ , Elder Price thinks furiously, shutting his eyes tightly to see if he can make himself black out again.

"Oh, uh, keep your eyes open, Elder Price," Gotswana says, gently pulling his eyelids up. "If you fall asleep we may not be able to recover you again."

"And wouldn't that be just awful?" Elder Price replies, quite sarcastically although none of the others seem to pick up on his sarcasm at all.

"Yes, well, I, Nabuluungi and Elder Cunningham are going to go into the other room for just a second to discuss a few matters. Stay awake, alright?" Gotswana says, patting Elder Price's shoulder. What 'matters' he's discussing with the other two are unbeknownst to Elder Price, but he doesn't care. He wants some time alone.

The pain is only getting worse and worse as he becomes more and more awake, his eyelids getting lighter with every blink. It's like the opposite of feeling sleepy in a test, because you don't want to fall asleep in the middle of class or else the school bullies will steal your lunchables when you aren't looking. Elder Price definitely didn't learn this the hard way. He just researches this stuff.

There's a scalpel on the bedside table.

He wonders what that scalpel can do.

Can it cut through skin? Can it go through bone?

Most likely. It is a medical tool, after all.

Perhaps Elder Price should try it out and see what it can do.

After all, not only would he be conducting a medical experiment, but if his experiment works, he'll get the best reward of them all. Heaven.

"Kevin!" somebody shouts, bursting through the door. Elder Price's hand slips and he knocks the instrument off the table. The sight of it slipping just out of his reach is like seeing your last drop of water fading into sand. It's torture. Elder Price doesn't bother looking up to see who just called his first name. It could be his mother. Or his father. Or his brother, or his sister or whoever else and he would not care. He wants that scalpel, but now he can't have it.

"Fuck," he mutters furiously just under his breath, sitting back against the pillow and grasping the side of his head. When he rolled over to get the scalpel, blood had started to gush out of the wound again.

"Kevin, oh thank Heavenly Father you're alright," the voice says. Whomever it belongs to runs over to Elder Price's bed and sits down on the edge of it. Blood has dripped out from under the bandages and is dripping into Elder Price's eye. He doesn't have the strength to wipe it away.

"Kevin, I know that you're obviously in a lot of pain and you've forgotten all about this, but remember last month when you told Nabuluungi about your weird angel dream? I know what you were talking about now! I finally understand!"

"Wha--?" Elder Price questions, blinking quickly to clear his vision. He looks up to see to whom the voice belongs. To his surprise, it's Elder McKinley, also known as Connor.

"Kevin, listen, beforehand I thought that, y'know, maybe you were just having weird dreams or something, but I had that dream too! It's like I actually died and went to this magical world where all you could see was this white, misty abyss and there were a ton of clouds and this golden light that was really warm and it was so _vivid_ , you know? Like, I felt like I was really there. It was amazing, and you were there and…" Connor trails off, possibly to refrain from disclosing any more information or possibly because he doesn't think Elder Price is listening. "Kevin? Are you okay?"

"I'm super, thanks for asking," Elder Price drawls sarcastically, rubbing the un-bandaged side of his head, which is aching just as badly as the other side.

This Connor is nothing like the Connor that Elder Price knows from his 'dreams', if you can really call them that. This Connor is obnoxious and talkative and way, way too jittery. Although, Elder Price seems to remember this world's Connor as being generally calm and soft-spoken, so perhaps it's just the situation causing him to be this way.

Nevertheless, he hates him. He hates him purely because he is not the angel that Elder Price knows from the white abyss. He is an impostor. An impersonator of the real Connor. This….this is all fake. Elder Price is really dead…he died a long time ago and so did Connor. Yes, yes that's it. This is some horrible punishment. That's all.

"Kevin," fake Connor says, very softly now. "Kevin, it's okay. I know that you're confused and upset and in an awful lot of pain but…it's okay. I'm here, and you can talk to me, okay?"

"I don't want to talk to anybody," Elder Price growls. "I want to die."

"Don't say that!" Connor gasps, frowning. "It's the dream, isn't it? Once you come out of it, you wanna go back. You wanna go back to flying and dancing and the silky clouds and the person that brings you so much unimaginable joy, but you can't. Not unless you die, or you almost-die. I went fishing and hit my head, just like you did. I saw the abyss, just like you did. With the angel wings and the soft clouds. I saw it for way too short of a time. And, well, I do want to go back but…but I have you here. I don't _need_ my own heaven because….because everything I need's down here."

"Well that's just great for you, isn't it?" Elder Price snaps, not swayed by the impostor's words. "You have everything you could ever want or need, you've got a ton of friends, people that actually look up to you. You weren't convinced that you were the smartest, best most deserving elder the world has ever seen and then forced to grow up in the span of two hours, thrown into the arena of life, witnessing people get shot and getting a fucking book shoved up your…"

"No, I didn't get a….you know. But I was just as shocked by how quickly people expected me to grow up. I was always belittled by my parents and I thought Africa would be like that one broadway show that's on right now, and I found out pretty quickly that it wasn't. I've had to struggle with all sorts of problems. Some that….that I guess you don't have to worry about," fake Connor replies, his voice slowly turning more and more brittle. _If this guy cries I'm just going pretend I blacked out,_ Elder Price thinks.

"And, sure, when I dreamed about going to heaven, all those worries and problems slipped away. I didn't have to worry anymore. When I came back down, I had short-term amnesia, just like you did. I was really angry because I had no idea what was happening. Even after I remembered everything, I was still really upset that…well, you had been in the dream, you see and…anyway, it's irrelevant, I knew that I couldn't ever recreate the events in that dream and it made me sad, but after a while I realized that…well, obsessing over made-up fantasies isn't really very healthy and also, you know exactly how I feel so, maybe if I told you I wouldn't feel so sad about it anymore. And I don't! Well, not really, anyway. Is this how you felt?" fake Connor asks, looking intently at Elder Price, who takes a minute to process everything.

"I felt like I'd been ripped off."

"Yes! That's how _I_ felt!"

"I was annoyed."

"Yeah, exactly!"

"I despised you for not being the you in the dream."

"Right! So did-- wait, what?" fake Connor cocks his head, looking confused.

"And I wanted to just…die. I still do. This whole fucking planet is fucked, I want out as soon as possible."

"Uh…um…that's not healthy, Kevin, I should probably go get the doctor…" fake Connor says, getting up and giving Elder Price a concerned look. _Yes, leave, please. Just go. Suicide is meant to be private_.

 

***

 

Elder Price did not commit suicide. He didn't have the equipment, for one, but he also made a different decision. I will tell you all about the decision he made in a second, but first let me tell you about Elder McKinley.

Elder McKinley gets the short straw a lot in life. For one, he is a mormon. He is also homosexual. Now, these two things alone are perfectly fine, but put together, they can cause quite a kerfuffle.

For two, somebody he has formed quite the soft spot for tried to kill himself, which usually isn't the greatest experience for either party.

However, for all the things that went wrong in his life, one quite miraculous thing did happen.

Soon after he ran off to fetch the doctor, the same man who had once held inside him so much excitement and willpower somehow decided that he wanted to end his life, and so he leaned over the side of his bed to get a metal scalpel to perform the task. However, halfway down to reach it, some sort of realization washed over him. This was not the miracle, however.

Elder Price sat back in his bed and stared at the wall for a while before Gotswana, Nabuluungi, Elder Cunningham and Elder McKinley all burst in to make sure he was okay. He was fine, of course, aside from the wound in his head. Gotswana saw the completely blood-drenched bandages and worried that Elder Price would die from the blood loss, but he luckily didn't. This was not the miracle either.

Elder Price recovered quite well, actually. He did suffer a small amount of brain damage after all, since most of the blood in his head had vanished, but after a hasty blood transfusion (which did not result in AIDS, and this was also not the miracle) and some stitches, he was fine. He just can't make new memories that well anymore.

Elder Price returned to the mission living quarters and stayed in his bed for a few days before getting back to work. He has Elder Cunningham by his side at all times so he uses him as a calendar most days. The fact that Elder Price manages to live a fairly functional life after all the trauma and mild brain damage is not a miracle either.

I still haven't told you what decision Elder Price made, have I? Well, I'm getting to that.

Elder McKinley, through all of this, once again feels as if he has gotten the short straw. Elder Price barely acknowledges him anymore, usually brushing off any questions about his visions of heaven and angels.

Elder Price made a very tough decision, but a decision none the less. He made it in a split second, but it managed to change his life.

He decided that he didn't believe in heaven.

He decided that heaven did not exist in any way, shape or form.

He decided that he did believe in God, but not in heaven.

He remembered a time, months ago, when he and the villagers had rejoiced at the idea that 'tomorrow is a latter day' and that heaven and hell are miles in the future and aren't worth obsessing over.

And so Elder Kevin Price decided that he did not believe in heaven. How did this change his life? Well, here's where the miracle happened.

One day, Elder Price stepped outside for a bit of air. Elder McKinley was clipping up wet clothes to dry in the sun, humming a little song as he went. He noticed Elder Price step out and didn't bother trying to strike up conversation, convinced that Elder Price would just ignore him as usual. He was trying his best not to care, but it is rather hard to not care about something when you are trying so desperately not to do it. It's like when somebody demands that you not think of pink elephants and now that is all you can think about. In this case, Elder Price is a pink elephant.

It rather surprised him when Elder Price took a deep breath in and said

"I'm so sorry, Elder McKinley. I've been kind of a dick. Could you tell me about your heaven dream, please?"

"Um, what?" Elder McKinley spluttered, half laughing and half genuinely curious.

"I want to hear all about your dream. Tell me exactly who was there and what you did. I'll tell you about mine."

And so he did.

And it changed his life. How?

Well, after they both gave a detailed description of their vision, it became quite apparent that they'd had almost the exact same dream. From the appearance of the expanse to the feathery cocoons and tender kisses. They were both quite surprised that they had been having such blatantly emotionally-driven visions of the afterlife, both of which depicting them alone in the abyss together. It definitely changed the way they saw each other.

And so a miracle happened. Not Elder Price's split decision to not kill himself, not his speedy recovery, not the fact that he finally spoke to Elder McKinley after almost a month of not speaking to him. None of those were miracles. The true miracle was something that could only have happened through a miracle.

They found heaven on earth.

**Author's Note:**

> So like 70% of this was decent and planned out and then in the last section I just wanted to end this little fic's suffering so I rushed a half-assed fluffy ending and I hope the pretentious ramblings of a precocious 13 year old girl didn't get in the way of the angel thingy (which is like 10% of the story let's be honest).


End file.
